Tommy Spagnolo scored a game-high 14 points in his first college game to lead Radford to a 57-54 season-opening victory over Emory & Henry on Saturday.
Gorkem Sonmez, a sophomore from Turkey, added 10 points for the Highlanders.
Radford forced 30 turnovers, including nine steals, against the Wasps, a Division III team that counted the game as an exhibition.
Emory & Henry never trailed in the first half, but Radford opened the second half with a 10-0 run to take the lead for good. Sonmez gave Radford its first lead, 27-25, with a layup and capped the spurt with consecutive baskets to push the advantage to 34-25 with 15:01 to play.
The teams' 111 combined points was less than half the total of their last meeting, which Radford won 124-109 on Jan. 7, 2008.
Bobby Stafford paced Emory & Henry with 12 points, while his backcourt mate Terrance Griggs added 11.
